The Road

Reading Guide Questions

Use these questions to guide your understanding of the novel as you read it. You do not
have to compose written responses to these questions, rather, you should use them as a
guide for reflecting on and responding to the novel. We will discuss these questions in class.

1. Cormac McCarthy has an unmistakable prose style. What do you see as the most
distinctive features of that style? How is the writing in ​The Road​ in some ways more like
poetry than narrative prose?
2. How does the dystopian vision in ​The Road​ present a warning for today’s society.
3. Why do you think McCarthy has chosen not to give his characters names? How do the
generic labels of "the man" and "the boy" affect the way in which readers relate to them?
4. How is McCarthy able to make the post-apocalyptic world of ​The Road​ seem so real and
utterly terrifying? Which descriptive passages are especially vivid and visceral in their
depiction of this blasted landscape? What do you find to be the most horrifying features
of this world and the survivors who inhabit it?
5. McCarthy doesn't make explicit what kind of catastrophe has ruined the earth and
destroyed human civilization, but what might be suggested by the many descriptions of a
scorched landscape covered in ash? What is implied by the father's statement that, "On
this road there are no godspoke men. They are gone and I am left and they have taken
with them the world,"?
6. McCarthy envisions a post-apocalyptic world in which "murder was everywhere upon the
land" and the earth would soon be "largely populated by men who would eat your
children in front of your eyes". How difficult or easy is it to imagine McCarthy‘s
nightmare vision actually happening? Do you think people would likely behave as they
do in the novel, under the same circumstances? Does it now seem that human civilization
is headed toward such an end?
7. The man and the boy think of themselves as the "good guys." In what ways are they like
and unlike the "bad guys" they encounter? What do you think McCarthy is suggesting in
the scenes in which the boy begs his father to be merciful to the strangers they encounter
on the road? How is the boy able to retain his compassion—to be, as one reviewer put it,
"compassion incarnate"?
8. The Road​ takes the form of a classic journey story—a form that dates back to Homer's
The Odyssey​. To what destination are the man and the boy journeying? In what sense are
they "pilgrims"? What, if any, is the symbolic significance of their journey?
 9. What makes the relationship between the boy and his father so powerful and poignant?
What do they feel for each other? How do they maintain their affection for and faith in
each other in such brutal conditions?
Source:
http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/reading-questions-your-guide-to-the-road-by-corm
ac-mccarthy/1​.

Reading Guide Table

Look out for the literary devices found below and use the table to keep track of
McCarthy’s use of literary devices as you read.

Narrative device Definition Example from ​The Overall effect on the

Road novel

Narrative voice The perspective from

which the story is told.

Diction (use of Pronouns are ​a word

pronouns for that can function as a
names) noun phrase used by
itself and that refers
either to the
participants in the
discourse (e.g. I, you )
or to someone or
something mentioned
elsewhere in the
discourse (e.g. she, it,
this ).
Diction the choice and use of
(advanced vocab) words and phrases in
speech or writing that
are advanced, obscure,
etc.

Diction Repeated words or

(repetition) phrases.

Diction (choice a word used to

of verbs) describe an action,
state, or occurrence,
and forming the main
part of the predicate of
a sentence, such as
hear, become, happen

Diction (choice a word naming an

of adjectives) attribute of a noun,
such as sweet, red, or
technical

Syntax (Sentence Sentence fragments are

fragments) groups of words that
look like sentences, but
aren't. To be a
sentence, groups of
words need to have at
least one independent
clause.
Syntax Lack of/unusual using
(Lack of/unusual of the marks, such as
use of full stop, comma, and
punctuation) brackets, used in
writing to separate
sentences and their
elements and to clarify
meaning

Symbols A figure of speech

where an object,
person, or situation
has another meaning
other than its literal
meaning. The actions
of a character, word,
action, or event that
have a deeper meaning
in the context of the
whole story.

Motifs A motif is a recurring

symbol which takes on
a figurative meaning.

Imagery (similes) a figure of speech

involving the
comparison of one
thing with another
thing of a different
kind, used to make a
description more
emphatic or vivid
Imagery a figure of speech in
(metaphor) which a word or
phrase is applied to an
object or action to
which it is not literally
applicable

Imagery a word naming an

(adjectives) attribute of a noun,
such as sweet, red, or
technical

Imagery (verbs) a word used to

describe an action,
state, or occurrence,
and forming the main
part of the predicate of
a sentence, such as
hear, become, happen

Imagery (sensory Using words that

images) appeal to the five
senses that are: touch,
smell, hear, feel and
taste.

Structure (no n/a

chapters)
Structure a scene in a film, novel,
(dreams/flashbac etc. set in a time earlier
ks) than the main story

Minimalist Simple or infrequent

dialogue dialogue

Gaps Information that the

author chooses to
withhold from the
reader

Foreshadowing a literary device in

which a writer gives an
advance hint of what is
to come later in the
story

Contrast an author uses contrast

when he or she
describes the
difference(s) or
compares between two
or more entities

Others?